The Dealer May Have Broken My Truck!

[fdbyrne]

The original post was venting. I never asked once for advice anywhere in the thread. I hadn't posted in days until someone asked for an update.

If it annoys you, don't read it.

 

[Sungod]

One thing that I find a little odd is that they haven't even offered a discount on the work or parts. In theory, they could sell me the part at cost and charge me the actual hourly rate that they pay their techs to install it and they would lose nothing on the deal but extend a pretty big olive branch. I'm not saying that I would or wouldn't take it at this point, but it would be a start.

That is kind of odd, but maybe it is because they don't know. If it were my shop and you had just spent that kind of cash on a head gasket job, at minimum I would offer to figure out what is wrong and then take it from there. As a service manager or service advisor, you have to balance out what you hear from your mechanics vs what is fair to the customer vs what is good for business. Mechanics are people and they are far from perfect. They make mistakes. Some are dishonest, but many are honest mistakes.

 

[fdbyrne]

I just got a call from the NEW Service Manager at the dealership, who is actually the old manager that retired and just came back. He said that they fixed the actuator at no charge and it's ready to be picked up. He said that the actuators were just out of sync with the electronic systems due to the battery being unplugged and maybe a few additional electronic reasons. He says that he personally drove it all over town this morning and switched it in and out of 4HI and 4LO three times and it worked flawlessly each time.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[vision-quest]

I just got a call from the NEW Service Manager at the dealership, who is actually the old manager that retired and just came back. He said that they fixed the actuator at no charge and it's ready to be picked up. He said that the actuators were just out of sync with the electronic systems due to the battery being unplugged and maybe a few additional electronic reasons. He says that he personally drove it all over town this morning and switched it in and out of 4HI and 4LO three times and it worked flawlessly each time.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

Good to hear!

 

[shahsmerdis]

I just got a call from the NEW Service Manager at the dealership, who is actually the old manager that retired and just came back. He said that they fixed the actuator at no charge and it's ready to be picked up. He said that the actuators were just out of sync with the electronic systems due to the battery being unplugged and maybe a few additional electronic reasons. He says that he personally drove it all over town this morning and switched it in and out of 4HI and 4LO three times and it worked flawlessly each time.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

wooohooo!!!!!

Hoping for the best over here! :thumb3:

 

[wadle5]

I'm cautiously optimistic.

This. . . . they brought in a "new" guy, because the old guy couldn't handle it and now in the shuffle of involved individuals your truck goes to the wayside. I would thoroughly go for a test drive with the manager and service tech and operate it with them all there several times as well as ask warranty for cracking open your vehicles box to mess with the actuators when it was just "an electrical problem with the battery". Get it written in the comments of your receipt from the service drive so everyone has a record of this occurrence.


sincerely former service writer

 

[nevada]

They did actually give me two quotes today for a new actuator and one was for a salvaged part. A new one installed would be about $2600. The quote for the salvaged one would only save me about $300 by their estimate. Their quotes figured in 12 hours of labor. Without access to all-data I really don't know whether or not that 12 hours is accurate. It seems high to me.

id say that is accurate. my system shows 11.5 hours.

This. . . . they brought in a "new" guy, because the old guy couldn't handle it and now in the shuffle of involved individuals your truck goes to the wayside. I would thoroughly go for a test drive with the manager and service tech and operate it with them all there several times as well as ask warranty for cracking open your vehicles box to mess with the actuators when it was just "an electrical problem with the battery". Get it written in the comments of your receipt from the service drive so everyone has a record of this occurrence.


sincerely former service writer

this.

im not sure why opening the case and MANUALLY adjusting things would be necessary. one would think you could disconnect the 4wd ecu, or possibly tap into it with their scanner and reset it. since it was never a mechanical issue to begin with.

I would be highly suspect of the now tampered with actuator. as these things are sensitive and prone to failure anyway...

 

[fdbyrne]

I'll be honest, I'm not certain that they actually opened it up. The service adviser did say that they did, but there has been a real lack of communication between him and the techs from what I can tell. Whenever I've spoken to him, he was pleasant but didn't sound like he had the whole story.

I plan on asking lots of questions before I sign anything, pay, or drive away. I'll be driving it with somebody from the dealership in the vehicle with me before paying for it and I'll be actuating the 4wd system multiple times during the drive.

So far, the most knowledgeable person that I've spoken to is the new/recently unretired manager and he seems confident.

We'll see.

 

[Az4runnin]

A Salvaged Actuator is Going to Be 1 with a Flawed design thats Gona Leak anyway. For the $300 the New one would be the updated one. Man something just Sounds Strange with this. Hell Yeah ask a Ton of ?'s. Do Cookies in front of the Service department to make sure all is working correctly if you have too.:thumb3:

 

[Sungod]

I just got a call from the NEW Service Manager at the dealership, who is actually the old manager that retired and just came back. He said that they fixed the actuator at no charge and it's ready to be picked up. He said that the actuators were just out of sync with the electronic systems due to the battery being unplugged and maybe a few additional electronic reasons. He says that he personally drove it all over town this morning and switched it in and out of 4HI and 4LO three times and it worked flawlessly each time.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

I would say that is nonsense because where that the case this would happen all the time. My money is still on the fact they didn't disconnect the battery and shorted something. Maybe shorted the actuator?

In any case it sounds like they fixed it. At least you know a 4 runner isn't a truck so all isn't bad.

 

[Ralph Blake]

Well let us all know if it is really fixed.

 

[fdbyrne]

Ok. Update time for all of the people that have followed along for the last week, given advice, told me I was an idiot, or debated with me over the definition of a truck...

I just picked it up, and I think it truly is fixed. I had the manager ride with me before signing anything or paying and it shifts in and out of 4wd just fine. The engine runs smooth. I paid exactly what I was quoted for the head gasket job and nothing more.

The service adviser that told me they opened up the actuator and physically reset it to 2wd was mistaken. They hooked up a diagnostic tool of some sort and signaled the actuator to go back into 2wd mode and it worked. Now that the various computers, selector switches, and actuators are all on the same page everything works like it should.

The manager ended up apologizing for the delay and many mistakes and admitted that the most likely cause was electrical. It almost certainly involved the battery being unplugged at the wrong time while something else happened and the computer and actuator got confused. Like many of us guessed, it was an electrical/computer issue and not a physical problem with the actuator.

In the end, I bought all of the parts, oil, coolant, etc. for the head gasket job for around $300 and they charged me $2100 in labor. My heads were just cleaned and tested and there was nothing wrong with them so the machine shop charge was only $76.

Had I given in at some point in the last week and not stood my ground or had I been one of those people that know nothing about their truck (sorry, I couldn't resist the parting shot) and completely trusted the shop to steer me in the right direction, I would have a new actuator that I don't need and would have paid an additional $2600.

 

[Walkenvol]

Great news! Glad you stood you ground and it obviously paid off! Hopefully you can enjoy your TRUCK (I think I was the one who first used the term truck to which some disagreed even though I know it's a truck) for another 200K miles. :lock1:

 

[Sungod]

Reading between the lines it sounds more like this to me: "Sir, the tech forgot to disconnect the battery. There was a spark, he panicked, disconnected the battery and moved on. He was too embarrassed to admit his mistake and tried to blame it on you. Luckily you were not as stupid as our service advisor and questioned it. Have a nice day"

 

[Ralph Blake]

Just glad to read your 4Runner is now fixed.
Reading this thread makes me happy my 08 v6 2wd runner is just a 2wd.
Know many need the 4wd and hope what happen to you,will not happen to others.
It would have been a nice item if your Toyota Service Dept. had given a 15 to 25% cut on their work,as you really took a beating getting them to do what was right all along.

I went through a damaged Samsung Tablet with both BestBuy and Samsung ,at first they both just said out of warranty SORRY. after a little talk about contacting the US Safety Dept. in regards to a expanding hot battery.

Samsung quickly changed their minds and my tablet was repaired. Had another talk with BestBuy about how they just blew off a safety item,they agreed they were wrong and sent me a $100 gift card.

Point I am trying to make is companies need to be more helpful to customers,and not just in the end just do what they should have done in the first place.

Did you ever hear anything from Toyota's Corp. in regards to your problem, or have they forgotten about you?

If they have not I would like to know about it.

 

[fdbyrne]

I haven't yet heard from anybody from Toyota Corporate, but they told me that I would receive a phone call in 2 business days. Today is that 2nd business day so I still may get a call from them.

I really don't expect anything from them at this point since I got what I paid for, had transportation through the process, and the service manager that was apparently overseeing things through the negative portion of the experience is no longer in that position. The new service manager knows his stuff and I do believe that it was his stepping in and specifically telling his guys what they needed to do to fix it based on his many years of experience that finally got things back on track.

If Toyota Corporate decides to give me an early Christmas gift in the form of paying for my head gasket repair as a way of apologizing, I won't turn it down, but they don't owe me anything at this point in my opinion.

 

[shahsmerdis]

I haven't yet heard from anybody from Toyota Corporate, but they told me that I would receive a phone call in 2 business days. Today is that 2nd business day so I still may get a call from them.

I really don't expect anything from them at this point since I got what I paid for, had transportation through the process, and the service manager that was apparently overseeing things through the negative portion of the experience is no longer in that position. The new service manager knows his stuff and I do believe that it was his stepping in and specifically telling his guys what they needed to do to fix it based on his many years of experience that finally got things back on track.

If Toyota Corporate decides to give me an early Christmas gift in the form of paying for my head gasket repair as a way of apologizing, I won't turn it down, but they don't owe me anything at this point in my opinion.

That'd be pretty awesome. Wow the system worked! I'm happy for you .

if they give you an early Christmas gift, that would be icing on the cake, but if its been resolved. Unlikely. one can hope

 

[Ralph Blake]

I haven't yet heard from anybody from Toyota Corporate, but they told me that I would receive a phone call in 2 business days. Today is that 2nd business day so I still may get a call from them.

I really don't expect anything from them at this point since I got what I paid for, had transportation through the process, and the service manager that was apparently overseeing things through the negative portion of the experience is no longer in that position. The new service manager knows his stuff and I do believe that it was his stepping in and specifically telling his guys what they needed to do to fix it based on his many years of experience that finally got things back on track.

If Toyota Corporate decides to give me an early Christmas gift in the form of paying for my head gasket repair as a way of apologizing, I won't turn it down, but they don't owe me anything at this point in my opinion.

I agree with you i just want to know if Toyota does get back to you,and just what they have to say.
Keep in mind if you don't ask Toyota, to maybe take some action at their Corp. level in giving you a small compensation for the trouble you endured.
They will never offer any. BestBuy never offered anything i just asked for the $100 gift card. You don't ask in this world you don't have the chance to receive.:juggle:

 

[2003-4x4runner]

Way to stick to your guns! :uzi: Now that your truck is all fixed, will you ever go back to that dealer again? Let us know if they send you a survey for the service, it would be funny if they did.

 

[Ralph Blake]

Well i guess the Toyota Corp. just forgot about the OPs little problem,since it's past the date they said they would get back to him and he has not posted they have called him.
Oh well Toyota Corp. is very busy these days correct? Busy BIG Toyota Corp.:bravo: